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The Crowd
A short story.
Unknown Binding
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About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,563 books25.4k followersRay Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.
Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".
Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
August 15, 2022
“There was a vast wrongness to them.”
This is another of Ray Bradbury’s short stories which has a Twilight Zone feel to it, and it is just a bit creepy. It opens with a terrible automobile accident in which Mr. Spalliner is injured. No sooner does the accident occur than the normal crowd gathers to see what’s going on. But Mr. Spalliner remembers hearing their footsteps before the upturned car’s wheels even stopped spinning…
Spalliner becomes obsessed with discovering how they reached the scene so quickly, and why in their faces he found a wrongness that he can’t explain to anyone. He begins to research accidents going back decades…
To reveal more would be a crime, but this is an example of real and intelligent creepiness, and great storytelling. In only a few scant pages, Bradbury creates a story, and a scenario, you’ll not soon forget. Awesome stuff from a literary legend, a guy who never went to college, but taught himself using a secret weapon — a library card...
Here's an audio version -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cOKW...
This is another of Ray Bradbury’s short stories which has a Twilight Zone feel to it, and it is just a bit creepy. It opens with a terrible automobile accident in which Mr. Spalliner is injured. No sooner does the accident occur than the normal crowd gathers to see what’s going on. But Mr. Spalliner remembers hearing their footsteps before the upturned car’s wheels even stopped spinning…
Spalliner becomes obsessed with discovering how they reached the scene so quickly, and why in their faces he found a wrongness that he can’t explain to anyone. He begins to research accidents going back decades…
To reveal more would be a crime, but this is an example of real and intelligent creepiness, and great storytelling. In only a few scant pages, Bradbury creates a story, and a scenario, you’ll not soon forget. Awesome stuff from a literary legend, a guy who never went to college, but taught himself using a secret weapon — a library card...
Here's an audio version -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cOKW...
June 27, 2021
"No sabía de dónde salía aquella multitud. Miró y las caras de la multitud se agruparon sobre él, colgando allá arriba como las hojas anchas y brillantes de unos árboles inclinados. Era un anillo apretado, móvil, cambiante de rostros que miraban hacia abajo, leyéndole en la cara el tiempo de vida o muerte, transformándole la cara en un reloj de luna, donde la luz de la luna arrojaba la sombra de la nariz sobre la mejilla, señalando el tiempo de respirar o de no respirar ya nunca más"
*Spoilers*
El SR Spallner sufre un accidente automovilístico, e inmediatamente repara que una multitud lo rodea, aparentemente son los típicas espectadores, personas habidas de curiosidad o morbo. pero el percibe algo extraño, algo no le gusta y comienza a preguntarse como llegan tan rápido , de donde provienen. finalmente se lo lleva la ambulancia y tras unos días en el hospital se recupera sin mayores inconvenientes. Pero le sigue rondando en la mente esas caras, esas personas que forman la multitud. Pronto se dará cuenta que las caras son las mismas siempre presenciando escenas fatídicas, en diferentes lugares , y que no son meros espectadores , tienen un propósito, y acuden inmediatamente a pesar de venir desde muy lejos...desde muy lejos.
Ante una fatalidad siempre suele haber un grupo de observadores y es muy interesante pensar que motiva ese acto. Puede ser un acto piadoso, mera curiosidad, una atracción o un impulso, consciente/inconsciente. Pero también ¿porque no pensarlo? puede haber gente que realmente disfrute con el dolor ajeno y sienta placer al observarlo en primera fila.
Este re;to explora esta situación que se da con la multitud/ los observadores, y lo lleva mas aya, enlazándolo con lo fantástico ,pero también con los misterios de la muerte y el juicio final.
¿Se puede ser oscuro y brillante a la misa vez? la pluma de Bradbury en este relato evidencia que si
*Spoilers*
El SR Spallner sufre un accidente automovilístico, e inmediatamente repara que una multitud lo rodea, aparentemente son los típicas espectadores, personas habidas de curiosidad o morbo. pero el percibe algo extraño, algo no le gusta y comienza a preguntarse como llegan tan rápido , de donde provienen. finalmente se lo lleva la ambulancia y tras unos días en el hospital se recupera sin mayores inconvenientes. Pero le sigue rondando en la mente esas caras, esas personas que forman la multitud. Pronto se dará cuenta que las caras son las mismas siempre presenciando escenas fatídicas, en diferentes lugares , y que no son meros espectadores , tienen un propósito, y acuden inmediatamente a pesar de venir desde muy lejos...desde muy lejos.
Ante una fatalidad siempre suele haber un grupo de observadores y es muy interesante pensar que motiva ese acto. Puede ser un acto piadoso, mera curiosidad, una atracción o un impulso, consciente/inconsciente. Pero también ¿porque no pensarlo? puede haber gente que realmente disfrute con el dolor ajeno y sienta placer al observarlo en primera fila.
Este re;to explora esta situación que se da con la multitud/ los observadores, y lo lleva mas aya, enlazándolo con lo fantástico ,pero también con los misterios de la muerte y el juicio final.
¿Se puede ser oscuro y brillante a la misa vez? la pluma de Bradbury en este relato evidencia que si
March 3, 2024
We open Mr. Spallner whose car has jumped a curb, smashed into a wall, and turned over. (Bradbury himself never had a driver’s license funnily enough.) The wheels of the car are still spinning when a crowd gathers.
Blood streaming down his face, he sees the faces of the crowd they all ask if he's going to die. Fading out, we break to him getting medical support the doctor saying there was no way the crowd got to the accident in 30 seconds. An accident can affect your time sense. but wheels of the car were still spinning; the street was empty before the accident, maybe it's shock?
Two days later, Spallner gets out of the hospital and takes a cab home, passing by an accident . Spallner asks him to drive towards it and the crowd gathered; the cab driver notices that the crowd “funny”, “There’s always a crowd. You’d think it was their own mother that got killed... Same way with a fire or explosion. Nobody around. Boom. Lots of people around.” Spallner can just see the their backs, but he is afraid to try to look at their faces.
Soon, the protagonist starts looking for accidents with a friend. Spallner begins to start mentally counting off the seconds. Within 21 seconds, the crowd has gathered. Spallner and Morgan go outside the building to get a look at the crowd, seeing them ask the victims if they're going to die. Spallner sees a familiar face gathered around him, but she leaves. He sees another familiar face, that of a boy, who also runs off.
If the hero is deluded, paranoid, then they might be purely figments of his imagination. Or real people, but he might be deluded in thinking they are always the same people... Or something more sinister?
5/5
The ending caught me by surprise.
Blood streaming down his face, he sees the faces of the crowd they all ask if he's going to die. Fading out, we break to him getting medical support the doctor saying there was no way the crowd got to the accident in 30 seconds. An accident can affect your time sense. but wheels of the car were still spinning; the street was empty before the accident, maybe it's shock?
Two days later, Spallner gets out of the hospital and takes a cab home, passing by an accident . Spallner asks him to drive towards it and the crowd gathered; the cab driver notices that the crowd “funny”, “There’s always a crowd. You’d think it was their own mother that got killed... Same way with a fire or explosion. Nobody around. Boom. Lots of people around.” Spallner can just see the their backs, but he is afraid to try to look at their faces.
Soon, the protagonist starts looking for accidents with a friend. Spallner begins to start mentally counting off the seconds. Within 21 seconds, the crowd has gathered. Spallner and Morgan go outside the building to get a look at the crowd, seeing them ask the victims if they're going to die. Spallner sees a familiar face gathered around him, but she leaves. He sees another familiar face, that of a boy, who also runs off.
If the hero is deluded, paranoid, then they might be purely figments of his imagination. Or real people, but he might be deluded in thinking they are always the same people... Or something more sinister?
5/5
The ending caught me by surprise.
January 24, 2025
Breve, conciso y muy interesante. Leí este cuento ya sabiendo de que trataba, aunque tenía una idea diferente. De igual modo me sorprendió y dejó pensando. Si no hubiera sabido nada sobre la revelación que esconde creo que me hubiera impactado.
Breve, conciso y muy interesante.
Breve, conciso y muy interesante.
November 9, 2021
Read this real quick as King mentioned it in Dreamcatcher. I like Ray Bradbury, this was a little creepy about crowds who always show up at accidents.
February 19, 2018
*SPOILER ALERT*
This is a disturbing paranoid urban ghost story that is very much of its era. Appearing first in 1947, it recurs in anthologies, made up a TV episode of Ray Bradbury Theater in 1985 and might reasonably be called a minor classic of American fantastic fiction.
The idea that our cities might contain emergent crowds of the ghosts of victims of car accidents who are physical enough to be near-ghouls wanting to arrange that others should join them seems to be first cousin to Jack Finney's later (1955) Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
The point is that America's urban modernity was being undermined not only by the obvious fear of 'communism' but by another fear to which the Red Scare merely gave an outlet - that the anonymity of modernity (where other minds could not be known) might harbour ghouls and (later) aliens.
October 23, 2020
"The Crowd" is a good story that leaves you with a creepy feeling to say the least. The story revolves around a guy who becomes suspicious of the people who turn up at car accidents.
I listened to the audio book and it managed to hold my attention. The voices were clear and believable from start to finish. I think the audio could have benefited from special effect sounds in the background, but did well just the same.
I'm not sure but i think this was made into a movie starring Pierce Bronson quite a few years ago,but can't be positive.
I can easily recommend this for a good quick story at about 25 minutes.
I listened to the audio book and it managed to hold my attention. The voices were clear and believable from start to finish. I think the audio could have benefited from special effect sounds in the background, but did well just the same.
I'm not sure but i think this was made into a movie starring Pierce Bronson quite a few years ago,but can't be positive.
I can easily recommend this for a good quick story at about 25 minutes.
Read
December 31, 2024RIP The Crowd you would have loved Crash (1973).
September 29, 2025
Good.
This was good, but not going to review it.
For the moment at least.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1960] [15p] [Horror] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★☆☆ Fahrenheit 451. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Martian Chronicles.
★★★★☆ The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl.
★★★★☆ I See You Never. [3.5]
★★★★☆ All Summer in a Day. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Crowd.
???????? A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories.
-----------------------------------------------
Bien.
Esto estuvo bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1960] [15p] [Horror] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
This was good, but not going to review it.
For the moment at least.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1960] [15p] [Horror] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★☆☆ Fahrenheit 451. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Martian Chronicles.
★★★★☆ The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl.
★★★★☆ I See You Never. [3.5]
★★★★☆ All Summer in a Day. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Crowd.
???????? A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories.
-----------------------------------------------
Bien.
Esto estuvo bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1960] [15p] [Horror] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
April 5, 2021
“How swiftly a crowd comes… like the iris of an eye closing in out of nowhere.”
Mr. Spallner has just been hurled through the air because of an automobile accident. He lies bleeding on the asphalt street, yet he realizes that before the police or the ambulance arrives, a crowd of gawking men, women, and children who have an unexplainable yet definite foreboding about them.
The second of Bradbury's macabre writing that appear in The October Country which I have tracked down after reading “The Jar”. Again it has that AHS feel to it, totally dark and otherworldly and immensely creepy. I felt it also had an almost conspiracy theory or urban ledged feeling about it too with Spallner thinking himself deluded or paranoid that the crowd might be purely figments of his imagination. It has been a while since I have had that goose bump feeling when reading. The Crowd to me is a representation of humanity’s darkest aspects and how many are attracted to and even thrive upon the pain and the problems of others.
Mr. Spallner has just been hurled through the air because of an automobile accident. He lies bleeding on the asphalt street, yet he realizes that before the police or the ambulance arrives, a crowd of gawking men, women, and children who have an unexplainable yet definite foreboding about them.
The second of Bradbury's macabre writing that appear in The October Country which I have tracked down after reading “The Jar”. Again it has that AHS feel to it, totally dark and otherworldly and immensely creepy. I felt it also had an almost conspiracy theory or urban ledged feeling about it too with Spallner thinking himself deluded or paranoid that the crowd might be purely figments of his imagination. It has been a while since I have had that goose bump feeling when reading. The Crowd to me is a representation of humanity’s darkest aspects and how many are attracted to and even thrive upon the pain and the problems of others.
October 23, 2019
Bradbury has won me over. So far, three of his works have been incredible and only one was a let down.
I’ve often thought about what makes people gather around accidents. Why do people slow down and gooseneck car wrecks? Playing off that morbid curiosity made for a perfect in to “The Crowd.” They’re like a group of murdering reapers.
I’ve often thought about what makes people gather around accidents. Why do people slow down and gooseneck car wrecks? Playing off that morbid curiosity made for a perfect in to “The Crowd.” They’re like a group of murdering reapers.
September 21, 2021
Wonderfully eerie and beautifully crafted!
February 11, 2022
I read this because Stephen King mentioned it in Dreamcatcher. Sadly, the concept was great but the execution.. Not so much. It was too fast-paced. It could have used another 30 pages or so.
October 7, 2022
Bradbury has a way of taking something that we see every day and making it terrifying. Short and sweet.
May 25, 2023
English class 🫡
September 28, 2022
Very short, but very good. I think I'm starting to become a fan of Bradbury!
December 23, 2018
“The Crowd” by Ray Bradbury is one of the most amazingly written, up-to-imagination or interpretation stories I have ever read. It starts with Mr. Spallner, the protagonist, putting his hands over his face and recalling the accident he has been in as people rush to the pavement where he has been thrown. When he is brought to the hospital, all he can think about is the spinning wheels and the faces he saw during his near-death experience. One day, he sees an accident and after seeing the same faces again, his curiosity doesn’t let go of him, but you know what they say: curiosity killed the cat. His paranoia about the faces and the accidents surrounding them is what brings his life to an end. This story’s ending may be predictable in some ways but I think it is not about how it ends, it is more about what makes you think about that ending. It is so wonderfully up to your interpretation that it feels like you are playing sudoku in your head after it ends. Is the protagonist right in his belief of a gang directing the accidents or is he still in the effect of the accidents he has been in? Are the faces and wheels used as symbols for your life and its thread? Or is all this is pointing at something bigger such as the technology which is so captivating that people cannot take their eyes off in case of a life or death situation? This story, where repetition and eclipses are perfectly entangled with the horror genre it’s written in, will make you read it in one breath. And one thing for sure, after you read the story, you won’t be able to hold your eyes from taking a second look when you are passing by an accident.
December 4, 2022
This is one of those stories that has unintentionally aged really well. I wonder what Bradbury would think of our smartphone culture that condones filming and sharing the worst moments in other people’s lives without their consent just for a small boost in sordid popularity. This story was terrifying, but only because it reminded me that our reality is often worse.
March 25, 2024
People & Accidents
24 March 2024
You could sort of say that this story explores the nature of the rubber neck – namely those people who see something happen, and go and look to find out more about it, but don’t actually provide any assistance instead simply get in the way and making it difficult for actual rescuers to deal with the problem.
The protagonist is involved in a car accident and he suddenly discovers that he is surrounded by a crowd. The thing is that this crowd arrived awfully fast and he is actually somewhat suspicious. So, after he recovers he decides to investigate, though a number of his friends disbelieve him (which seems to be a common trope in these stories). However, as he digs deeper, he eventually discovers people who do believe him.
Like, with a lot of these stories, I don’t want to give too much away because the main thing is that these stories really focus on the twist – namely the unexpected thing that occurs at the end, and unfortunately, to explain what this crowd is, and what it means I will probably reveal too much.
However, it is an interesting commentary on human nature though, how we want to know what is going on, but we don’t actually want to get involved. Much like the fight in the schoolyard, where one starts and all the kids start screaming out ‘fight, fight!’ but nobody joins in. Mind you, that might be a good thing because, well, if they all joined in then there would be chaos.
24 March 2024
You could sort of say that this story explores the nature of the rubber neck – namely those people who see something happen, and go and look to find out more about it, but don’t actually provide any assistance instead simply get in the way and making it difficult for actual rescuers to deal with the problem.
The protagonist is involved in a car accident and he suddenly discovers that he is surrounded by a crowd. The thing is that this crowd arrived awfully fast and he is actually somewhat suspicious. So, after he recovers he decides to investigate, though a number of his friends disbelieve him (which seems to be a common trope in these stories). However, as he digs deeper, he eventually discovers people who do believe him.
Like, with a lot of these stories, I don’t want to give too much away because the main thing is that these stories really focus on the twist – namely the unexpected thing that occurs at the end, and unfortunately, to explain what this crowd is, and what it means I will probably reveal too much.
However, it is an interesting commentary on human nature though, how we want to know what is going on, but we don’t actually want to get involved. Much like the fight in the schoolyard, where one starts and all the kids start screaming out ‘fight, fight!’ but nobody joins in. Mind you, that might be a good thing because, well, if they all joined in then there would be chaos.
January 7, 2026
This story was PHENOMENAL. So creepy, full of tension and dread. I loved how the main character was practically satisfied when he got into his second accident, as it proved his theory right. However, the ending bit of “I’m going to become one of you now” was ridiculous, and totally sucked all of the horror out of this story for me. Why wouldn’t the crowd have gotten huge from 40 years of car accidents if everybody they kill joins them? This was never established as a precedent earlier in this story. I was so frustrated that that was the ending of this phenomenal short story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2018
I really enjoy Ray Bradbury's writing. Whenever I read one of his stories I feel as if I am in it, and this is no exception. He also makes you think and the story stays with you long after you've finished reading. I sort of knew where this story was going, but it didn't change how I felt about its expressiveness. I felt the gathering of the crowd, the people staring, and the last ditch communication and realisation. Wonderful.
March 5, 2023
After surviving a near-fatal car accident, a man marvels at how quickly a crowd had gathered around him. Later, he witnesses another accident and observes the same gawkers arriving within seconds, and this time, some of them move the victim, resulting in her death. Obsessed now, the man begins investigating the onlookers and gathers evidence for the police—which he never has the chance to deliver.
November 5, 2023
The Crowd, Ray Bradbury
Creepy paranoia story. Fans of Poe & Bierce & PKD will appreciate this. ****
“The crowd looked at him and he looked back at them and did not like them at all.”
“He looked at them, above him, and he was curious as a man under deep water looking up at people on a bridge.”
Creepy paranoia story. Fans of Poe & Bierce & PKD will appreciate this. ****
“The crowd looked at him and he looked back at them and did not like them at all.”
“He looked at them, above him, and he was curious as a man under deep water looking up at people on a bridge.”
January 13, 2020
I loved the uniqueness of this dark short story. Something that happens so regularly in our society has taken on a much more sinister tone and I appreciate this idea
March 13, 2020
saturday afternoon creeps
November 2, 2021
Read this because it was mentioned in another book (Sour Candy) I’ve read October Country before but forgot this story. Nice reread that would have made a great 60s twilight zone episode
February 16, 2022
Almost a perfect horror story. One of my favourites by Bradbury
April 9, 2022
It's what drove Bradbury's car paranoia.
April 20, 2022
2.5 stars. An eerie tale that dances around madness. Available on youtube, narrated by Tony Walker.
August 1, 2022
Fantastic!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews